If you’ve already applied to make up UK National Insurance from overseas, good for you. If not, here’s a reminder why it’s a good idea and, below, an update for 2024 on my application (happy ending alert!)
My application was accepted
It took 11 months as I applied late Feb 2023 and received the acceptance letter in January 2024. During that time, I kept checking the government gateway portal and it would estimate when mine might be dealt with considering when I had sent it. This was a moving target for about 3 months. In January, it said it had been sent and I waited and waited. As I was about to give up, I received it via post in Spain 6 weeks after the date it said on the system.
If yours says it was sent, and you can’t wait or suspect it has gone missing, you can call them and get them to tell you what it says.
I was actually surprised my application was accepted but delighted as now I can pay my most recent missing years (that’s 6 or 7 for me) and the years from now at the Class 2 rate of £163.80 (compared with £824 if it had been rejected). A couple of the years are slightly lower than that, but I’ve no idea why. For me personally, I don’t need to make up those back years as I’ll have enough to get a full UK state pension as long as I pay from now on (35 qualifying years and 10k a year in pension income once I am 67).
BUT, I might make up the old ones anyway as I have no way of knowing if they will put the yearly amount up in future, or stop this cheaper option in the future. Or if I will, for some reason, be unable to pay or stop working or something. It’s a very cheap insurance for retirement is the way I look at it.
What if your application is rejected?
To be honest, I was fully expecting to be rejected as I hadn’t supplied much info on dates and activities while overseas. I recommend supplying as much info as you can though, and I know people who supplied more than me and got rejected.
You can apply again if rejected and there’s until April 5, 2025 to do so. As long as that application is received before then, they have to honour it apparently. I hear that the backlog is still a long, long time. However, it is now possible to apply online and that is easier and the result comes in a matter of weeks. (full info in the guide below)
If you’re not accepted to pay Class 2 and have to pay Class 3 too it will cost more like £800-900 a year but this is still a good deal as each year you contribute gets you closer to receiving 11+k a year when you’re 67.
Anyway, I feel like I’ve won the lottery and hope the same result for you too!
The 2024 updated guide to how to apply to make up National Insurance contributions overseas
If you’ve not sent yours off yet, or just want to see the latest updates as I’ve learned some more bits and pieces since originally creating the doc last year, I’ve updated the pdf with the newest bits highlighted in yellow.
New sections relate to:
- the application process to make up UK National Insurance from overseas (now online yay!)
- additional info to include in your application (even though I didn’t)
- considerations for people expecting to retire overseas as some countries may deduct your state pension there
- making up missing years for free (this part is for anyone, not just in relation ot the overseas thing).
Click below to get the 2024 updated pdf on how to make up UK National Insurance contributions overseas.
Future You is very grateful!
PS If you’ve sent off for my pdf in the past and the how to make up UK National Insurance overseas guide never came, get in touch. There are over 60 people in my forlorn email folder who haven’t confirmed their address. There are even more who probably have a load of emails from me sitting in their junk or, worse, in the bin, long-since deleted. If that’s you, contact me on the form here and I can send it to you again.
These posts about NI aren’t the only way I help people with their finances, especially people living abroad, and especially TEFLers like I was.